King's Lynn and Around: The Wash & Castle Rising

A Huge Mudflat, a Unique Castle and a Good Dinner

King's Lynn, Where and Why

Norfolk

King's Lynn & W Norfolk

Our first visit to England’s most easterly bulge was a brief camping tour of Suffolk and Norfolk in May 1980. It was also our last visit - until this week. After the cancellation of our February trip to Costa Rica, we felt we had been nowhere for ages, and were desperate to go somewhere so perhaps a Travelzoo short break in Kings Lynn would fill the void – it was a town neither of us had visited before.

Norfolk - and (inset) the county's position within England
The many pins are the work of Tour Norfolk from whom I have borrowed the map

Snettisham

We set off on Wednesday morning on a journey of less than 140 miles that would take well over three hours, there being no fast, nor even particularly direct route from north Staffs to north Norfolk.

We drove round Kings Lynn, continuing up the A149 towards Hunstanton (pronounced Hunston), crossed the Queen’s Sandringham Estate and stopped at Snettisham just off the main road in search of beer and a sandwich.

Snettisham

The Queen Victoria dealt with our needs with less drama than its Walford namesake, then we had a look round the village with its mellow brickwork and occasionally eccentric architecture.

Snettisham

Two ‘hoards’ have been found nearby. The Snettisham Hoard of precious metal, hidden around 70 BCE was discovered piecemeal between 1948 and 1973, and the Snettisham Jeweller’s Hoard, of Romano-British jewellery, hidden around 150 CE, was found in 1985. Both are now in the British Museum.

The Wash

As an eleven-year-old map nerd, I found The Wash a strange and intriguing place; King John had lost his treasure in something that looked too big and too rectangular to be real. I had never been there, or anywhere near, but I noted it down for the future.

The future was in no great rush, so it was sixty years later that we drove to Snettisham Beach. The long straight road was lined with bright yellow broom, while the fields were purple with lavender. The lavender give way to static caravans as we neared the beach, clearly many visitors are expected but not in April and not on a day as cold as this. We parked in a vast empty car park and climbed the gravel bank that defends it from flooding - and the biting wind - to catch our first sight of The Wash.

The was little to see. The tide was out and the inland half appeared devoid of water, so we stared across a mudflat at the low-lying coast of Lincolnshire some 25km away.

The Wash - looking across to Lincolnshire

Scooped out at the end of the last ice-age, The Wash is the combined estuary of the Rivers Witham, Welland, Nene and Great Ouse. Deep water channels run between the mudbanks, most importantly to Kings Lynn, a major port when it was at the mouth of the Great Ouse and ships were small and wooden, and to the River Nene and the port of Wisbech. Over the centuries the size and shape of the estuary have changed, sedimentation and land reclamation have decreased its area, though the recent breaching of the sea wall at Freiston has created an increased area of salt marsh as a natural flood defence and important habitat for wading birds.

Snettisham Beach, not the place for bucket and spade, dip in the sea beach holiday

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has a reserve at Snettisham Beach and two of their employees walked past as I was staring out to sea through our binoculars. “What can you see?” one of them asked. “Avocets,” I replied with (some) confidence. “Nice,” she said and told us they were going to check on the ringed plovers, nesting a little way to the north.

Lynne spotted some ducks waddling about where mud and water meet, we decided they were Eiders. Swooping around us were black-headed gulls. They were easy to recognise as they actually had black heads, they have only a black spot outside the breeding season.

When the wind had brought sufficient tears to our eyes, we decided it was time to move on.

Castle Rising

On the way back to Kings Lynn we passed Castle Rising, a village sitting behind a rather odd castle of the same name.

Castle rising behind its earthwork

The Motte-and-Bailey castle originated in Northern France in the 10th century and spread quickly across north-western Europe, being introduced into Great Britain and then Ireland by the Normans. The idea was simple, you built a motte, a heavily defended wooden keep, usually on a mound and protected the surrounding area, the bailey, with a raised earthwork and ditch.

The next development was to rebuild the keep in stone, and then, very often in the early 13th century, to surround the bailey with a curtain wall instead of an earthwork and replace the external ditch with a moat. Then more and more buildings, halls, chapels and store rooms, appeared in the bailey. Castle life softened as the world became less lawless and wealthy families eventually came to prefer a country house, often abandoning the castle. Goodrich Castle in Herefordshire is an excellent example of this sort of development.

Castle Rising is an oddity; a huge earthwork still surrounds a stone keep as though development stalled in the 12th century, but the keep is one of the biggest in England and it has also travelled as far as a stone keep can in the direction of country house.

Castle Rising from the top of the earthwork

The d'Aubigny and Montalts

Castle Rising was built by William d'Aubigny II around 1138. A man on the rise, d’Aubigny had just married Adeliza of Louvain, the widow of King Henry I and was about to become Duke of Arundel. This was at the start of the Anarchy, a game of thrones played between Henry I’s daughter (and Adeliza’s stepdaughter) Matilda, and Henry’s nephew Stephen of Blois. D’Aubigny needed a strong castle, and he had two, Arundel and Buckenham. Lacking strategic value his third, Castle Rising, became a palatial hunting lodge surrounded by deer parks. William d'Aubigny and his descendants enjoyed this facility until 1243 when his great-great-grandson died childless and the castle passed to the Montalt family.

Even a pleasure palace needed a defendable entrance, Castle Rising

The Montalts raised the forebuilding of the keep and added the peaked roof, but they ran out of money and sold the castle to the crown in 1327.

During this time most of the castle activity took place in the Great Hall. The ground floor was for storage only, the kitchens were on the first floor (second floor for American readers) behind the Great Hall.

Storage space below, Great Hall above, Castle Rising

The Lord and Lady of the castle held court from a niche in the wall, conveniently opposite the hearth.

A comfortable niche in the Great Hall for the Lord and Lady, Castle Rising

Isabella of France

The most interesting character to live in Castle Rising was Isabella of France. The daughter of Phillipe IV of France she was married by proxy to Edward II of England aged 10.

Edward’s father, Edward I had been a top-grade medieval war lord, the younger Edward was not. Dad had been the ‘Hammer of the Scots’, his son’s northern venture ended in a humiliating defeat at Bannockburn.

Edward II’s court was riven with factions and he was dependent on favourites, Piers Gaveston being his main influence when Isabella arrived. When Isabella complained to her father that Edward visited Gaveston's bed more than hers, pressure was applied, and Edward performed his conjugal duties. In 1312, aged 17, Isabella gave birth to an heir, the future Edward III, duly followed by a spare and two girls.

Isabella shrewdly reached an understanding with Gaveston but his death in factional in-fighting led to the rise of a new favourite, Hugh Despenser. Isabella was side-lined and members of her household arrested. She fled to France where she took up with Roger Mortimer, Earl of March.

The elegant stairs to the Great Hall, Castle Rising

Isabella and Mortimer returned in 1326 with an army. Edward’s support collapsed and Hugh Despenser was captured and gruesomely executed. Isabella declared her son to be king with herself as regent. Edward II was murdered in 1327, but outlandish stories of his death are probably apocryphal.

Isabella and Roger Mortimer ruled until 1330 when the young king decided to assert his authority. Mortimer was executed and Isabella, still only 35, retired to Castle Rising where she lived in some style until her death in 1358.

Isabella liked comfort, and new kitchens and other buildings were erected in the bailey. After her, nobody took much interest in Castle Rising, it became dilapidated and the outbuildings were quarried for building stone. It has been safely in the hands of English Heritage since 1983.

The remains of Isabella's kitchen and other outbuildings, Castle Rising

Kings Lynn: The Tuesday Market Square and the Dukes Head

We drove into Kings Lynn where we were booked into the Dukes Head Hotel on the Tuesday Market Square.

It is impossible to do justice to a large square – and it is very large – even one surrounded by impressive buildings, in a single photo. A market is still held every Tuesday, but we stayed Wednesday to Friday so I have nothing to report.

Tuesday Market Square, Kings Lynn

The Dukes Head is one of the finest buildings in the square. I have been unable to discover who the relevant Duke was, but I do know it was built in 1683, was designed by local architect Henry Bell and is currently Grade II listed. It is also covered in scaffolding (we were warned before booking), but that is a price that must be paid to keep such buildings in good repair. Oddly, the clearest view through the scaffolding was at night.

The Dukes Head Hotel after dark, Kings Lynn Tuesday Market Square

Dinner at the Dukes Head

Our Travelzoo deal included dinner, so after an aperitif in the bar, we presented ourselves at what the hotel calls its ‘Fine Dining Restaurant’. The Dukes Head holds 1 AA rosette. The AA awards restaurants from 1 to 5 rosettes. 3,4 and 5 being broadly equivalent to 1,2 and 3 Michelin stars. A single AA rosette is, I would think, the minimum requirement to describe your restaurant as ‘fine dining’.

From the 6 choices of starter Lynne selected…

Feta and Courgette Sausage Roll, beetroot jam, toasted pine nuts.

This was a vegetarian dish, the ‘sausage roll’ referring to the shape produced by wrapping strips of courgette (zucchini, to Italians and Americans) round a small pillar of feta cheese. Lynne liked this very much, an unadvertised spike of citrus stopped the feta from cloying and the pine nuts added crunch. She was unsure what made the beetroot ‘jam’, but it was beetroot, so she yummed it up regardless.

Feta and courgette sausage roll, beetroot jam, toasted pine nuts.Dukes Head, Kings Lynn 

Ham Hock Rissole, carrot chutney, chicory

My first choice would have been Asparagus, but for reasons soon to become clear I changed my mind. The sight of the rissole made me doubt my decision, it resembled a huge bug with chicory wings, but in fairness the exterior was crisp and the interior, a sort of pulled ham hock, was surprisingly light, though there was something missing from the flavour. Whatever it was the sweet/sour carrot chutney covered it up, and using the slightly bitter chicory as an edible scoop resulted in a pleasing combination of flavours and textures.

Ham hock rissole, carrot chutney, chicory. Dukes Head, Kings Lynn

Trebbiano Rubicone

A bottle of house white also came with our deal. A clean, fresh, but rather austere Trebbiano, it opened up as it breathed.

Steamed Sea Trout, spring vegetables, Hollandaise

We both chose Sea Trout for our main course. Professional reviewers would never do that but I am an amateur so we can have what we want.

Steaming is never going to crisp the skin, and it did little for the layer of fat beneath, but I knew that when I ordered it. What disappointed me was that the fish seemed flaccid and flabby. It reminded me of farmed salmon, a close relation after all. I was unsure if sea trout is farmed, but I find it is, in Scotland, and I suspect this was an example.

Sea Trout, spring vegetables, Hollandaise. Dukes Head, Kings Lynn

I liked the spring vegetables, the asparagus was particularly lovely – not quite the first of the new season’s English crop for me, I am happy to report. The artichoke was a revelation, a chef-y favourite for a few years now but never one of mine because of its often woolly texture and absence of taste, but this was neither woolly or tasteless. The young peas and baby broad beans were excellent with the Hollandaise sauce.

I avoided the asparagus starter as that too had Hollandaise sauce and once a meal is enough. This also had asparagus, though it was not specifically mentioned, so I made the right decision, but is this good menu planning?

Affogato

Affogato is Italian for drowned. The drowning of a scoop of vanilla ice cream in an espresso can be presented in several ways, the simplest being to serve them in two adjacent cups amd let the diner get on with it.

Affogato, Dukes Head, Kings Lynn

It is a simple, but effective dessert.

Chocolate Bunet, orange sorbet, raspberry powder, cocoa nibs, amaretti crumb

Bunet, originally from Piedmont is less simple. Like pannacotta and crème caramel it is a dolci al cucchiaio - a spoon dessert – and is made from cocoa, eggs and amaretti, and flavoured with rum. The Bunet was fine if a little one-dimensional - it needed the dried raspberry and the amaretti crumb, where a good pannacotta or (Portuguese) crème caramel requires no enhancement.

Chocolate Bunet, Dukes head; Kings Lynn

Star of the show was the sorbet, not orange as announced, but passion fruit. The powerful fruit flavour, high acidity and intense sweetness made it a delight.

And Finally....

It was a good meal and did the trick of making us feel that we had gone away and done something – a feeling that has been missing of late. It was of a similar standard to other single AA rosette meals in this blog, links to reviews are below. Reviews of Michelin starred restaurants – which really are a step up – can be found by clicking the ‘fine dining’ label on the side bar.

Other 1 AA Rosette meal9
The Speech House, Forest of Dean Gloucestershire (2019)
The Hotel du Vin, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (2019)
The Hotel du Vin, Stratford-upon-Avon. Warwickshire (2022)
The Dukes Head, Kings Lynn, Norfolk (2022)

Other Norfolk/Cambridgeshire Posts

King's Lynn and Around: The Wash & Castle Rising (April 2022)
King's Lynn: The Town (April 2022)
Wisbech and Peckover House (April 2022)

Hemingford Grey and Green Knowe (July 2016)